PREDESTINATION
Paul wrote some amazingly wonderful things in the Book of Ephesians. In the first chapter, particularly, we are led to rejoice at the wonderful gift of salvation. We have received all spiritual blessings through Christ (Ephesians 1:3). It is here that Paul says God “chose us in Christ prior to the foundation of the world…having predestined us to adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself” (1:4-5).
This is great news. It is something to rejoice about. It means that those who are lost can be saved. But does it teach that your personal salvation was determined by an active choice of God in eternity past, before you were even born? Which would logically mean that it is not YOUR choice in the matter that is involved.
I hope John Calvin went to heaven and was truly saved, of course, but he should not be celebrated as a responsible Bible student or teacher in the overall matter of the things that he taught. He took that position—that we are irreversibly chosen to salvation or damnation, before we are born, by God. The Westminster Confession of Faith—which seems to be more influential in some Presbyterian and Reformed circles than the Bible is—does the same.
The Presbyterian Westminster Confession of Faith stated: “By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and other foreordained to everlasting death.”
Now, many do not like the term “free will” and I understand why. The will of man is never completely free. We are never completely free from things influencing our decisions. But human personal responsibility is something the Bible teaches plainly. And such a ridiculous statement as that which is made by The Westminster Confession denies any form of human responsibility, whether its adherents accept that conclusion or not.
If someone has their salvation determined for them from eternity past, before they were even born, as preachers like John MacArthur have asserted, then there is absolutely no reason to preach the Gospel to anybody. This is totally illogical and nonsensical.
The Calvinist will answer that we should preach the Gospel because the Bible says to and the command is sufficient. But the Bible does not give commands to disciples of Jesus that are arbitrary and make no sense and fly in the face of anything logical of which one can conceive. If the elect have been chosen to be saved in the sense that the Calvinist says they have, then they are going to be saved. Why should I be motivated to get out and try to tell people about Jesus if the elect are coming to Him regardless? Even if I share the Gospel with the lost because I am “commanded” to do it, whether I understand why or not, I am certainly not going to have the same passion and enthusiasm for trying to convince people to accept Christ if I believe the elect are coming no matter what. Paul spent time reasoning with people and debating people and trying to get them to accept Jesus (Acts 9:22; 17:3, 23-31; 13:23, 13:32–33, 39; 19:8; 28:23). He said, “Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11). Persuade them to what? Be saved? Being saved is equivalent to being one of the elect, biblically speaking. So Paul was persuading people to “become” one of the elect. Therefore, election cannot mean what the Calvinist says that it means. Because in their view, the decree of God concerning the elect cannot be changed. Why should theologians like R. C. Sproul, John MacArthur or any of their theological kinsmen write books and teach when the elect are going to go to heaven no matter what? If the elect are going no matter what, then why would we even need preachers at all? It is just stupid.
One cannot get around the fact that Ephesians chapter one, one of the most celebrated texts among Calvinists, repeatedly talks about being “in Christ” (vv. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14). In Christ. In Christ. If someone did not have “help” from the Calvinist, and they just read Ephesians 1 honestly from the heart, they would come away with no such notions as the idea that God has determined ahead of time which individuals will be saved and which ones will be lost. To say that God alone made that decision for you is a fine imitation of heresy if it is not heresy. God chose that those in Christ would be saved, but who makes the decision about who is in Christ? Who decides whether or not you, as an individual, will be “in Christ”? Did God make that decision for you? Or do you have to decide to accept Christ for yourself to be “in Christ”? That is the question that will separate the Calvinist from the stable Bible interpreter.
In Galatians 3:26-27, Paul makes it clear that we are in Christ if we have faith in Christ and are baptized because of that faith. We are in a relationship with Christ. “You are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” he writes. All who put their faith in Christ are “in Christ.” Roman 6:3-4 says that through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, we are “in Christ.” We can close this ridiculous case by asking one question. Does everyone have the freedom to choose whether or not they will be in Christ? Whether or not they will put faith in Christ? If you will not sign your name to the following statement: “God has given everyone the freedom to choose whether or not they will put faith in Jesus Christ,” then you are not preaching the Gospel. You don’t even understand the Gospel. Calvinism is NOT the Gospel. And not to be unfriendly, but you should be ashamed to even call yourself a Christian, much less a preacher of the Gospel, if you will not say that God loves everyone and everyone who chooses to put faith in Christ can be saved.
So clearly, this is how it should be viewed: God decided to save sinners. We do not deserve to be saved. We do not earn salvation. God “elected” that He would save sinners and “predestined” them to be saved. It was a loving decision made from the heart of God, who is full of mercy and love. He did not elect individuals to be saved or lost, but He elected that those who put their trust in Jesus will be saved, in spite of the fact that they are sinners. So we as a group have been “chosen” to be saved, and that group is made up of those who are “in Christ.” In Christ, we are saved because God elected it to be that way. Salvation was not just a concept that drifted around and happened on its own. God decided on the plan of salvation. And anyone who wants to be in that group of people, those who are in Christ, can be a part of that group. ANYONE.
If you want to be one of the “elect” then choose to accept Christ.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway.
